Electricians routinely encounter the problem of running a length of connector pipe from a terminated conduit or stub-up in a floor to an electrical box to be mounted in a wall in the process of being built upwards from the floor, which box will typically be laterally offset from and not in adequate perpendicular alignment with the stub-up or parallel to a masonry wall face. The box is often aligned at a predetermined set back distance from the wall face to be built, and the electrician then encounters the problem of running the pipe to the box. The offset may be accommodated in several ways, the most typical being to bend the stubbed up pipe to adequately align with the box for running a fairly straight connector pipe therebetween. Or, the length of connector pipe itself, which is joined to both the conduit and the box by routine couplings well known in the art, may be appropriately bent to match the offset.
However, bending of the stub-up is crude and can be a problem, particularly if the stub-up is close to the floor and perhaps recessed or inside a wall line. It can be difficult to get a pipe bending tool, which is likely four or five feet long, into a close space to accomplish the bending operation. It may even be necessary to remove some of the wall, which removal is time consuming and expensive.
Also, if the stub-up or the connector pipe is bent improperly, such as at too sharp an angle, it may narrow the pipe's interior diameter and make pulling wires therethrough difficult. In addition to bending, pipes may be wedged into a particular alignment with masonry chips, which is a crude technique that can lead to sloppy results.